Jake Lamar (born in 1961 in The Bronx, New York City) is an African-American writer, novelist, playwright, and cultural critic[1] living in Paris.

[1] After graduating from Harvard University, Lamar spent six years writing for Time magazine.

After a near fatal heart problem in 2015, Lamar wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times on the quality of the socialist system of health care in France.

[5] His most recent work, Viper's Dream (No Exit Press, 2023) is a crime novel set in the jazz world of Harlem between the years 1936 and 1961.

In July 2024, Viper's Dream received the prestigious Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Award.